Assessing the Correlation between Citizen Science and Carbon Footprint: Introduction of COMPAIR’s CO 2 Calculator

Athanasia Orfanou (), Stergios Vakalis (), Christos Karelis, Charalampos Alexopoulos, Yannis Charalabidis and Demetris Francis Lekkas
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Athanasia Orfanou: Waste Management Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene, Greece
Stergios Vakalis: Energy Management Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene, Greece
Christos Karelis: Information Systems Laboratory, Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, 83200 Samos, Greece
Charalampos Alexopoulos: Information Systems Laboratory, Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, 83200 Samos, Greece
Yannis Charalabidis: Information Systems Laboratory, Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, 83200 Samos, Greece
Demetris Francis Lekkas: Waste Management Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100 Mytilene, Greece

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: The citizen’s carbon footprint is affected by various factors, but mostly by electricity consumption, daily transportation, travelling habits, as well as municipal solid waste management, a critical factor that is not frequently incorporated in carbon footprint estimations. This paper proposes a new carbon footprint calculator, the Carbon Footprint Simulation Dashboard—COMPAIR’s CO 2 calculator. The CO 2 calculator employs Citizen Science (CS) information in order to assist citizens in understanding and comparing how future carbon emissions will be modified in accordance with changes in their daily routines. The calculator offers several statistics, e.g., the country’s average carbon footprint and comparisons between EU members with respect to sectors that shape it, along with several recommendations for those domains where carbon footprint is significantly higher than the desired limits. The novelty of this tool is the integration of waste management strategies as a dimension of the total CO 2 calculation. In this framework, the study presents the development of the Carbon Footprint Simulation Dashboard while two different waste management scenarios are applied with different citizen behaviours on recycling and composting. The applications highlighted the consumption in buildings that account for almost 50% of the total CO 2 emissions, while the crucial role of transportation is also a key parameter. The different waste management scenarios showed a correlation between the CO 2 footprint and the overall consumption/disposal habits of citizens. In the case of advanced recycling and composting, waste management accounted for up to 7% of the CO 2 emissions, and this highlights the significance of behavioural choices.

Keywords: CO 2 calculator; carbon footprint; citizen science; GHG emissions; climate change; behaviour change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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